MMA News

Tom Taylor - December 19, 2019

Eddie Alvarez isn’t a big fan of way the UFC is handing out title shots these days. Specifically, the current ONE Championship lightweight contender is against potential title shots for Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor. Aldo, who is the former UFC featherweight champion, made his debut in the bantamweight division at UFC 245, losing a controversial decision to Alvarez’s teammate Marlon Moraes. Despite this loss, he’s been targeted by UFC bantamweight champ Henry Cejudo, and UFC President Dana White seems interested in booking a title fight between the two.

Adam Martin - December 19, 2019

The opening betting odds have been released for the upcoming title fight at UFC 248 between UFC women’s strawweight champion Weili Zhang and rival Joanna Jedrzejczyk. The UFC recently announced that Zhang will take on Jedrzejczyk at UFC 248, which is set for March 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The bout is expected to serve as the co-main event of the card, with another title fight headlining the event.

Natasha Hooper - December 19, 2019

Ramsey Nijem has suffered the same fate as Nick Diaz, but with a significantly lighter penalty. In November, NSAC chief assistant Jeff Mullen announced to ESPN that Ramsey Nijem, Luis Rafael Laurentino and Glaico Franca tested positive for elevated banned substances.

Adam Martin - December 19, 2019

The opening betting odds have been revealed for a potential MMA bout between UFC women’s bantamweight and featherweight champion Amanda Nunes and boxing world champion Claressa Shields. Nunes defeated Germaine de Randamie at UFC 245 last weekend to retain the UFC women’s bantamweight title. Shields was in attendance at the event as a guest of UFC president Dana White but didn’t enter the cage to challenge Nunes as many assumed she would. Still, White and Nunes both admitted interest in a matchup against Shields.

Tom Taylor - December 19, 2019

Joe Rogan is very excited for the upcoming lightweight title fight between undefeated champ Khabib Nurmagomedov and streaking challenger Tony Ferguson. In fact, he believes Ferguson represents the best challenge Nurmagomedov has faced to date. Rogan gave his take on this matchup on a recent edition of the Joe Rogan MMA Show, speaking to former UFC featherweight champ Max Holloway.

Tom Taylor - December 19, 2019

Colby Covington is arguably the most polarizing fighter in MMA today. While he’s certainly got his fair share of fans, he’s also got legions of haters, and those haters have been very vocal since he lost to Kamaru Usman at UFC 245. Former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub, who now makes his living as an analyst and podcaster, believes Covington’s haters need to give it a rest. He feels that, because Covington’s persona is manufactured, fans should go a little easier on him.

Adam Martin - December 19, 2019

New UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski is set to have surgery on his broken hand that will keep him on the shelf for the foreseeable future. Volkanovski defeated Max Holloway by unanimous decision in the co-main event of UFC 245 to win the title and emerge as a new global star in MMA. But he suffered a broken hand during the fight and it will keep him on the sidelines and unable to defend his belt anytime soon.

Cole Shelton - December 19, 2019

In the final UFC card of the year and the decade, the Octagon will touch down in Busan, South Korea. The UFC Busan main event pairs short-notice replacement, Frankie Edgar against “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung. Heading into the fight, Edgar is a +145 underdog while Jung is a -175 favorite. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the scrap. The majority believe Chan Sung Jung will get his hand raised at home.

Natasha Hooper - December 19, 2019

PFL light heavyweight and former UFC fighter Alex Nicholson has hit a major snag in his MMA career. On Wednesday, the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) held their monthly meeting. Alex Nicholson was a point of discussion as the fighter allegedly tested positive for multiple banned substances on a recent drug test. The test in question was administered for his Francimar Barroso bout at a PFL event on October 31. The results concluded the positive use of three banned substances, drostanolone, nandrolone and trenbolone, in addition to an elevated T/E ratio.

Tom Taylor - December 19, 2019

Nick Diaz recently took to Instagram to advertise an opportunity for fans to win VIP tickets to his UFC return. The problem, of course, is that he doesn’t currently have a UFC return scheduled.

Harry Kettle - December 19, 2019

Chris Weidman has claimed that UFC president Dana White put pressure on him to increase the level of trash talk ahead of his UFC 162 showdown against Anderson Silva. The bout, which took place back in July 2013, was for the UFC Middleweight Championship. Heading into the bout it was clear to see that many pundits and fans alike felt like Weidman had a legitimate shot at ending the run of Silva as the king of the middleweights.

Mike Pendleton - December 18, 2019

As 2019 winds down, Dana White is starting to push steam behind Zuffa Boxing, although no set announcements have been made yet. Most recently, White announced that he had reached a deal with Floyd Mayweather for the two to work together on Zuffa Boxing, but White would not go into detail as to how that deal would take place. Following the news of their agreement, another boxing legend wants in on Zuffa Boxing. While making an appearance for Sirius XM’s Fight Nation’s Defining Moments of the Decade Show, former heavyweight boxing legend Evander Holyfield revealed he would like to work with Dana White and be a part of Zuffa Boxing.

Mike Pendleton - December 18, 2019

Former Bellator welterweight champion and UFC welterweight title challenger Rory MacDonald made headlines on Monday when it was announced by ESPN that he was leaving Bellator MMA and joining the Professional Fighters League. Following his shocking move, MacDonald joined Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show Podcast and discussed why he left Bellator MMA following his loss to Douglas Lima in October, as his contract expired after that fight.

Mike Pendleton - December 18, 2019

Former UFC featherweight Max Holloway is in good spirits and answering questions following his title loss to Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 245 this past weekend. On Wednesday, Holloway was a guest on The Joe Rogan Experience MMA Show to discuss a wide variety of topics from his title loss to the recent happenings in his career. One situation Holloway discussed with Joe Rogan was the reasoning behind him being pulled from his scheduled fight against Brian Ortega at UFC 226 in the Summer of 2018. Rogan asked Holloway about the situation which saw “Blessed” undergo a series of tests, but nothing was every released to the public about Holloway’s health following the tests.

Cole Shelton - December 18, 2019

Michael Bisping believes Colby Covington was handed karma by having his jaw broken by Kamaru Usman at UFC 245. In the lead up to the fight, Covington trash-talked Usman saying this would be the end of him. Yet, that was not the case as it was “The Nigerian Nightmare” who ended up winning the title fight by fifth-round TKO.

Natasha Hooper - December 18, 2019

On Wednesday 18th December, Max Holloway joined the JRE club by taking a seat on Joe Rogan’s podcast. The former featherweight champion reflected on his UFC 245 loss to Alexander Volkanovski and the hot topic of UFC judge’s credibility was quickly brought into question. On Saturday 14th December at the T-Mobile arena, “Blessed” embarked on his fifth title defence against the No 1 ranked featherweight contender, Alexander Volkanovski. Whilst Holloway endured the repeated attack of his opponent’s leg kicks, the champion believed he delivered more damage and effective strikes. As a result, he was taken back by the final ruling, a unanimous decision victory in favour of his Australian rival.

Tom Taylor - December 18, 2019

Earlier this afternoon, news surfaced that former Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald has parted ways with the Viacom-owned promotion and signed with the Professional Fighters League (PFL). While this is exciting news for MacDonald and the PFL, it does represent an unfortunate twist for fans who were hoping to see a rematch between MacDonald and reigning Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima in the future. Lima and MacDonald are tied 1-1 across two exciting fights, and now, with MacDonald moving to another promotion, it seems unlikely that we’ll see them meet in a tie-breaker anytime soon.

Natasha Hooper - December 18, 2019

Alistair Overeem debuted his post-operation lip in a clip featured on ESPN’s Instagram page. “The Reem” suffered the injury at the hands of Jairzinho Rozenstruik. The heavyweights collided in the main event of UFC Washington on December 7. The undefeated Rozenstruik filled on short notice for Walt Harris, who had to withdraw from the bout with Overeem due to the tragic death of his step-daughter.